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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25568092">𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 ━ 𝐬. 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/boroughs/pseuds/boroughs'>boroughs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Strange (2016), Doctor Strange (Comics), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gen, Marvel Universe, Multi, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Doctor Strange (2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2015-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:07:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,708</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25568092</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/boroughs/pseuds/boroughs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>a journey into mystery that stretches across time, space and many dimensions ━ this is the tale of a lonely sorcerer and a grieving woman that discover just how intertwined their destinies truly are.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Stephen Strange &amp; Clea, Stephen Strange &amp; Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>The </b>sweltering humidity beamed down from the Manhattan sky and slapped Katherine's exposed back with fiery conviction. It only fueled her annoyance. Maybe wearing a dress in this weather had not been the best idea, but despite her own protests, here she was.</p><p>Her parents had stopped by to visit her on their vacation, but really, they were looking for a free tour guide. She glanced back at her mother and father, who were laughing and whispering among themselves as if it they had met each other for the first-time.</p><p>However, the mood could change just as quickly.</p><p>Katherine's parents didn't have a perfect marriage, but it was theirs and it wasn't all bad. At least that's what she told herself. Either one of them could say something that triggered the other and they would end up bickering back and forth over it. Despite their differences and the qualms over the years, they both loved Katherine all the same.</p><p>Sometimes, however, her dad had a hard time showing that he did, indeed, love her.</p><p>Katherine was not born from his own seed—she had not belonged to anyone, in fact.  It didn't help the fact that weird, strange things started happening when they had decided to bring her home. Even if those things were positive abnormalities or minute calamities, David Grier would not have it under his roof if it could be helped. He was a God-fearing man, first and foremost, and continued to be one as more people like Katherine began to emerge unto the world.</p><p>Even with all of that, Katherine still considered them hers. They were the only family that she had ever had, and she cherished them deeply. She smiled lightly and wished one day she could find someone who gave her a purpose and a reason to belong somewhere; something she deeply yearned for.</p><p>"Kathy!" Her father's shoulder brushed against her slightly as he walked past her. A sigh escaped Katherine's lips and she shook her head, glancing back at her mother with a slight grin.</p><p>"I don't understand how you guys fight as much as you do and still have a decent marriage. " Katherine asked, slowing in her pace and interlocking arms with her mother.</p><p>Her mother let out a chuckle. "Your father's always been a bit short-sighted, but I don't hold it against him. He's always been good to me, despite it and for that I'm thankful."</p><p>"After all, if it weren't for you coming into our lives, I'm sure we'd be divorced."</p><p>Katherine let out a snort, followed by a series of laughter between her and her mother as eclectic bystanders walked past them in their own routines. </p><p>David stayed ahead of them as they made their way down the sidewalk toward the Empire State Building.</p><p>"Honey," Pamela called out. "Don't you think it would be more fun if we went to another one of the museums or back to the zoo? We didn't get to go to everything the other day and I really would love to see the giraffes."</p><p>"No," He barked. "That building is just as good as a museum as the rest of them and I want to go inside it. We can go to the zoo tomorrow."</p><p>Katherine shook her head and fought back a smile at her father's expense. He had hated the crowds of people at the Central Park Zoo and he had hated the way that her and his wife were enjoying themselves, while the liveliness taunted at him. After all, visiting New York was not at the top of his list of travel destinations—not because he didn't want to see his daughter, but because it had become an epicenter for people like <em>her</em>, and that terrified him.</p><p>Her parents divulged into another petty argument, but Katherine didn't mind. She was content with just being able to spend time with them as she took in the familiar energy of Manhattan. The larger-than-life buildings, the sounds of cars rushing past, and bustling life all screamed out that this is where she belonged, where she was meant to be. Katherine remembered when she first arrived in the state, it felt this exact way—that this place would be the one she called home.</p><p>Katherine let out an exasperated sigh and caught up to her parents at a newsstand less than a block away from the Empire State Building. Her dad picked up a copy of the New York Post and let out a disgruntled scoff.</p><p>"Won't you look at this?" He slapped the headline with the back of his hand. "Another goddamn villain attacking our country. Son of a bitch isn't even from this planet and the first thing he decides to do is attack us as if we don't have enough shit to worry about as is."</p><p>David slammed the newspaper back down. "I bet if it weren't for all these so called 'superheroes', none of this would be happening."</p><p>Katherine pursed her lips and chose her words carefully. "If we didn't have these people here to protect us, we probably wouldn't even be here right now. You know—"</p><p>Her father eyed her as he went rigid with anger. "We <em>have </em>people to protect us, Katherine. These people popped up one day and it's danger after danger for people like us. They don't care about the damage they do, the lives they destroy—none of it. They just want the attention that comes with. I mean, that Tony Stark fella got all that praise after he died, but when he was alive, everyone knew he wasn't a good person. Hell, he's halfway responsible for what's happening in Yemen to this day."</p><p>"Honey—" David cut Pamela off and turned all of his frustration and anger to Katherine.</p><p>She let out a mental sigh as his rant continued.</p><p>"You know who the <b>actual</b> <b>heroes </b>are? The men and women who don't have powers and put their lives on the line everyday, before these ego maniacs came onto the scene—doctors, nurses, policemen, firefighters—the women and men in the military. Those are the heroes, not some super-powered freaks wearing Halloween costumes year round."</p><p>"Our world has evolved to the point where those people and the ones with powers are recognized as heroes, Dad. I wouldn't expect you to understand—you <em>never </em>tried to understand."</p><p>"I never tried to understand?" David threw his head back in a mocking laugh, itching closer for a fight. "Of course, <em>you </em>see it that way. I did everything in my power to raise you up normal, make sure you had a decent childhood like a normal kid, despite everything, and I never got a thank you for any of that!"</p><p>Pamela placed a hand on her husband's arm. "David, stop. You're upsetting me and her."</p><p>Katherine felt her face flush and she turned her attention elsewhere. There was a knot forming in her throat, but she digressed and tried to focus on something else.</p><p>But David wouldn't let go. "Me and your mother went to the bat for you. Every. single. time. When you got suspended from school for standing up for yourself and they tried to expel you for it, we defended you. Every time you had a nightmare and your powers fucked up the house, we treated you no different, Katherine. I treated you no different. Even after what happened at the hospital—"</p><p>"You tried to fucking leave me at an amusement park when I was seven!" Katherine shouted, rage dancing across her face. People were stopping to look and stare, but she didn't care. "You think because you did what a parent was supposed to do, that gives you a pass to be embarrassed of me? To make me feel like it's wrong for me to be different? I don't even know what kind of <em>powers </em>I have, because you never took out the time to find someone who could've helped me!"</p><p>David sneered. "Be <em>grateful </em>that we even took you in. If it wasn't for your mother—"</p><p>"That is enough from the both of you." Pamela stepped between her husband and their daughter. "This is one of the few times that we get to spend time with other now and the two of you can't stop being at each other's throat to enjoy that. You need to be ashamed of yourselves."</p><p>Katherine clenched her jaw and looked away. "I didn't ask you guys to come see me. You know how he is, so I don't even know why you bothered, Mom."</p><p>David's face seemed to soften a bit at the words of his wife and daughter. He opened his mouth to say something in his own defense, but Katherine had already started walking towards the entrance of the Empire State Building.</p><p>To hell with her dad.</p><p>She loathe the fact that people felt the need to speak judgement on the happenings of someone else's life, as if they had been there to experience it. Perhaps she should have lied to her mother when she called and told them she had to work in order to avoid one of these exact moments.</p><p>Katherine refused to cry about it—she had long run out of tears and learned to replace them with forced smiles, even if she were breaking on the inside. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her arm and looked over to see her mom smiling at her softly. She glanced over her shoulder to see her father trailing after them with a look of defeat.</p><p>Her mother leaned her head back as they got closer to the building, gasping lovingly at the height of it. "All of the buildings here look as if they're touching the sky, but this could split heaven it if wanted to."</p><p>Katherine laughed lightly. "Yeah, I supposed it does look like it can."</p><p>They both laughed lightly and then it dissolved into a somber silence. Katherine felt her father's presence behind them and his dissatisfaction oozing from every pore of his being. Why did he pick today of all days to decide to be an asshole to her?</p><p>"Jesus Christ, there's even more people here than there was at the zoo." David muttered and Katherine rolled her eyes in annoyance. People were starting to stare at them, and Katherine could feel herself getting angrier and angrier with each one.</p><p>She exhaled sharply and pushed it back down.</p><p>"It's really hot," Katherine said, more to her mom than her dad. "I'm going to go get some ice cream from the vendor I saw back there. Do you want anything?"</p><p>Her mom smiled in agreement. "That sounds wonderful, bunny. Could you bring me back a Push Pop and a bottle of water as well? There's no telling how long we'll be in this line."</p><p>Katherine nodded curtly and left the line to head back to the ice cream vendor next to the newspaper stand. It was only when she was almost out of ear shot that she heard her father call after her asking for a fudge bar and water.</p><p>She turned around to offer back banter, but everything happened in an instant.</p><p>There was no time to react—she felt a sudden jolt as a wave of heat and flickering hues came into her view. Her body was propelled into the air like a rag doll and skittered across the concrete, colliding with a nearby light pole with a sinister crack. She let out a gasp at the flood of pain that overcame her body; the ringing in her ears heightened and she heard screams in the backdrop.</p><p>The ground beneath her quaked and reality crashed down upon her all at once—something terrible had happened. Slowly, she steadied herself upward and another wave of pain rushed over her body, but it didn't matter—the world was divulging into chaos and she needed to see what happened.</p><p>She <b>wanted</b> to see.</p><p>Was it a bomb?</p><p>Shouts of terror split the air and windows shattered all around her. Glass fragments deluged over pedestrians racing for cover and Katherine continued watching in utter disbelief as metal pieces from nearby structures crumbled to the ground like dandruff.</p><p>Katherine didn't think—she just ran.</p><p>Back to the Empire State Building.</p><p>Back to her parents.</p><p>Back to her only family.</p><p>Crowds of people became mere backgrounds images as Katherine ran, another explosion ringing in the air. The outer portions of the Empire State Building began to dissolve unnaturally, as if someone were peeling away at it like dead skin.</p><p>Katherine ran faster, ignoring the burning sensation in her side.</p><p>People were scrambling to get away from the danger, but she was the only one heading towards it. There was a voice in the back of her mind crying out in a useless plea telling her she was running a fool's errand. That there was nothing she could do for her parents once she found them—if she found them.</p><p>She winced at the thought but didn't care.</p><p>Even if she were running to her death, it would be better to suffer that than live in a world where she would be alone yet again.</p><p>A huge piece of an office building cascade down near Katherine. She refused to stop running, but she did look up and in doing so, her heart dropped, and her blood went cold. There was a massive black hole that had opened in the sky above Manhattan and the Empire State Building was at its center. Masses of dark shadows flew out of the hole—beings like the one from the hospital all those years ago.</p><p>Had this been the universe's way of producing a divine comedy, built on irony?</p><p>Flashes of light zapped buildings to her right and left; they dissolved instantaneously.</p><p>No, this wasn't a terrorist attack.</p><p>This was something much worse.</p><p>Something that her father had feared—had argued over only minutes ago. She bit down hard on her lip and her eyes swelled with tears, but she had a gleam of hope. The Avengers Tower was in the city. And Spider-Man. Even the Fantastic Four were somehow close nearby, right? One of them would have already arrived at the event and her parents were saved.</p><p>They had to be.</p><p>"Mom?! Dad?!" Katherine's screams barely carried over the crowds of people running opposite of her. "Please answer me! I'm begging you, please?!"</p><p>There was a sudden rush of wind that almost knocked her off her feet. For a moment, Katherine thought it had come from ensuing chaos and falling debris. Instead, a man dressed in a strange blue garb with a flowing read cape landed right in front of her. Emotions flooded her mind and she frowned at the stranger. She was gratefully to finally see a superhero, but he blocked her view—he blocked the way to her family.</p><p>He was a none factor—superhero or not.</p><p>A determined look came across her face and she ran towards him.</p><p>He didn't move.</p><p>Katherine stared wide-eyed in anger, darting to the right to get around him. But he made a strange gesture with his hands, and instead of seeing the Empire State Building, she saw a grassy meadow.</p><p>"Sorry," he said. "No death wishes today."</p><p>And he pushed her inside.</p><p>Katherine landed on her side on top of a thick carpet of grass and winced in pain once more. All the more, it still did not matter. She took in a deep breath of the bucolic landscape and noted that there were no smells of the city she had come to call home. She whipped her head around in shock, holding her side and breathing erratically.</p><p>What the <b>fuck</b> just happened?</p><p>All around her were dozens of others who wore the same expression of confusion she did. The only difference was that they weren't alone, and she was.</p><p>Katherine gritted her teeth tightly and forced herself to her feet, desperate to keep going. To find her mom. To find her dad.</p><p>The circle she had been pushed through floated before her and she felt a pair of eyes watching. She had been so entrapped in the peculiarity, that when the circle began to close, she could only stare in horror. She was being sealed from death, but also from the hope that her parents could very well still be alive.</p><p>And that is when she saw them.</p><p>Those icy, emerald blue eyes that had once stared at her from the perverted shadows of her room. Finally, she had saw that they belonged not to some ethereal entity, but a man—the man who had saved her life. The man who had stopped her from getting to her parents.</p><p>She collapsed to her knees and let out a guttural scream, calling for her parents over and over again until her voice grew harsh and were replaced by sobs.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b> <em>ONE YEAR LATER</em> </b>
</p><p><b>Today </b>marked the anniversary of those that lost their lives in the cataclysmic event that poured from the Dark Dimension.</p><p><em>'One year to the date,' </em>Stephen Strange thought somberly to himself.</p><p>He stood where the entrance of the Empire State Building once was and let a low, quiet sigh part from his lips. He had come to pay his respects on this day, but not for long, of course. He did not want to attract any unnecessary attention, but the Cloak of Levitation seemed to want the opposite. The velvet cloak could change its form and shape at the behest of the wearer, but only when <em>she </em>so desired. Strange had asked her politely to don the appearance of a trench coat, but for some aberrant reason the cloak had refused him.</p><p>So, there he was, standing in full Kamar-Taj attire at remnants of an unfortunate devastation.</p><p>He glanced down at the crimson maroon cloth and shook his head. "You might be used to this, but I think we look ridiculous."</p><p>The hem snapped at him in reply.</p><p>Strange had no idea why he had always thought of the sentient item as a 'she'. It could have very well just as easily been a 'he' but referring to the cloak as anything opposite felt wrong to him. She tugged at the nap of his neck, forcing Stephen to turn his wavering attention back to the memorial that had situated itself organically after the tragedy.</p><p>The city had erected a fence around the ruins almost overnight, and immediately the chained links became headstones and tributes to those lost; flowers, photos of families, stuffed animals, jewelry and candles saturated the sidewalk in honor of the dead.</p><p>He pressed his lips together thinly and exhaled slowly as the sight.</p><p>As the months passed, mourners continued to come, adding even more items until their self-inserted memorial had grown to such a size it prevented the city from beginning construction on a new, Brobdingnagianbuilding to replace the Empire State Building. Strange thought it was just, seeing it inappropriate and inconsiderate to rebuild such an eye-sore so soon.</p><p>The Cloak tugged at him again.</p><p>"If you want my attention," Stephen said. "There are better ways to do it. "</p><p>Stephen felt the Cloak shake her response to him.</p><p>Crowds of the grief-stricken had begun to thin out and the gray clouds that hovered over the city when Strange had left, were now a dangerous black. The air hung pregnant around him, eerie and warm; the wind pushed through nearby trees and forcing the leaves to whisper about nature's malicious intent. Stephen slightly tilted his head up to the sky and wondered if the ensuing storm could wash away the guilt, he had felt not being able to save everyone.</p><p>As it was with the first shriek of lighting, he saw the face of a brown-haired woman glaring at him with angry conviction and determination as. Out of all of the faces he had come across that day, hers was the one that imprinted itself onto his mind. He wondered why that was, but even the great Sorcerer Supreme had no answers.</p><p>Maybe she served as a dark reminder that he was not all-powerful and all-knowing, but a regular man, who by chance, had been granted a title that he continued to prove he didn't deserve. He was, however, thankful that the Ancient One had seen something in him than the man he was once before.</p><p>His mind drifted and he with it, into the memory of seeing that brown-haired woman, back to that fateful day.</p><p>Strange had been meditating beside the Cauldron of the Cosmos when he felt a sudden shift. There was a heaviness that engulfed his spirit, a spark that seemed to ripple through the dimensions and thin the air around him. He jumped to his feet immediately and without even uttering a word, the Cloak of Levitation attached herself around his neck and they moved as one.</p><p>Both Wong and Zelma had felt it as well.</p><p>They offered to go with him, but he insisted on going alone. In the event it was just a distraction to get something out of the Sanctum Sanctorum, both of them would be there to fend off any trespassers. He opened a portal with a slight gesture of the hand and vanished through it, arriving at the center of the disturbance.</p><p>It was as if a wound had crept between the spaces of reality and the Empire State Building rested at its centered like a bludgeoned rod needing to be removed. Strange saw the gaping maw grow wider and wider by the minute as it consumed and assimilated the surrounding area unto its own gravity. He recognized the festering darkness from his first encounter with Dormammu and saw the being's disciples pour out of the black hole in drones.</p><p>Strange had damnedest to save all those that he could, while trying to shield himself from the dark forces attacking him. He had opened a portal to Central Park in front of those running away from the chaos, hoping that its location would serve as a focal point to make it easier for loved ones to find one another again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman running and confusion crossed his face—she was heading straight for death and didn't even realize it.</p><p>Or so he thought.</p><p>When he appeared before her, he couldn't but feel a familiarity of some sorts. He did not know why or where that feeling had come from, but he recognized something about the woman. Stephen's eyes glazed over her and fell onto the dampness growing on her right-side—she was injured and judging by the size of the bloodstain on her dress, she should have fainted.</p><p>But she had not.</p><p>There was fury and stubbornness in her eyes as she made a quick glance at him and turned her attention back to the Empire State Building as it continued to be disfigured. He was taken back when she ran towards him, but not surprised. After all, had he been in her shoes, struggling with unknown certainty if someone dear to him had been sucked into that hole, he would have done the same.</p><p>It pained him to imagine the emotions running through her mind, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he knowingly led someone to their own demise. He flicked open a portal to Central Park and pushed her in it. It was that expression she had on her face during their brief encounter that had rummaged his mind afterwards.</p><p>She looked as if she knew him and he had betrayed some sacred bond they shared.</p><p>But, Strange did not know that woman—despite feeling as if he did.</p><p>Everyone that he had been able to save sung his praises to the media later that evening, grateful to the oddly garbed stranger who seemed to appear at a moment's notice and save their lives. However, all Stephen could think about were the images of those who had perished. There had been a video collage that played non-stop on the news networks today and it did nothing to stifle his guilt.</p><p>There had been a time, not too long ago, when the Sorcerer Supreme would have never wasted energy mediating on those he couldn't save, but only on those that he could. Every life that floated under his skilled hands were his to control and he was their savior—in those instances, he had considered himself playing a righteous God.</p><p>He let out a cruel chuckle at the thought and the irony of his situation.</p><p>Today, it wasn't just the photos of the lost that assaulted him, but it was the questions he had no answers. Why, after making the deal to leave Earth in peace, had Dormammu sent a full-scale assault in his stead?</p><p>Strange had no answers of his own.</p><p>But he went into the Dark Dimension notion that its ruler could provide them.<br/><br/></p><p>However, instead of coming to a meeting with the Lord of Darkness, he was greeted with never-ending emptiness. He managed to leave the damned place as the Dark Dimension began sealing itself shut and the calamity ended. Perhaps it had not been Dormammu who had ordered the onslaught, but another one of his own kin. Maybe it was a warning to the Sorcerer—Strange had no answers.</p><p>Thunder rolled overhead and a droplet of rain splashed against Stephen's cheek, and another soon after. He watched the clouds carefully—no lightning yet. The Cloak of Levitation drew herself closer around Strange, not to shield him from the incoming downpour, but to keep herself dry.</p><p>"Don't like getting a bathe?" Stephen joked to her.</p><p>The cloak pulled tighter around his neck in answer.</p><p>Stephen chuckled and the rain picked up.</p><p>One by one, small groups of mourners scattered away from the memorial site until only one remained. It was a young woman that sat in front of two candles; she had no umbrella with her, nothing to shield her from the storm, yet she did not waver. In fact, she looked up to the sky with a sad smile and closed her eyes as the rain powered over as if it were a baptism from the heaven's themselves that could take away whatever pain and grief she felt.</p><p>Stephen stared at her unwillingly.</p><p>For some reason he couldn't take his eyes off of her and it bothered him.</p><p>It was the fizzling of the candles as the rain rampaged down harder that allowed him to look away. The summer cloudburst had turned into a rainstorm and lightning crackled through the clouds as if it were putting a performance on for an unseen audience.</p><p>"Time to go," he muttered to himself.</p><p>As if in response, the Cloak jerked from his neck and took off down the sidewalk. In the direction of the young woman. Strange stood in bewilderment and shock, glancing around in hopes that no one had noticed. Not that New Yorkers would have been the tiniest bit surprised, considering all of the otherworldly phenomenon that plagued the city. If someone had noticed, they were too focused on getting out of the rain to even give it a second thought.</p><p>The cloak flew straight for the memorial, for the lady that allowed herself to be soaked by the cold waters. The Cloak moved with purpose, floating through the rain that she had come to hate so much and spread itself a top the woman and shielded her from the storm. At the sudden dryness, the woman glanced around and then upward. Her face contorted with many emotions at the sight above her head.</p><p>Stephen took a slight step forward and the woman's head snapped in his direction almost instantly.</p><p>It was <b>her</b>.</p><p>The woman that had been a mere memory in his mind was standing before him, at the very place they had first met. He halted for just a second, studying her face to see if it flashed with some realization that they had met before—somewhere deep down, he hoped she would—but she didn't. Her gazed focused on him and she gestured upward with a tilt of her head at the Cloak of Levitation.</p><p>He cleared his throat. "Sorry to disturb you."</p><p>"No, it's alright." Her voice was light, soft, but held assertiveness. "I'm used to these sorts of things happening, really."</p><p>There he stood in the rain, while the cloak ignored him and stayed above the head of the woman. He was beginning to get drench as his fabrics grew heavy and annoyance filled him.</p><p>However, he did not utter a word and silence grew between them as she turned her attention back onto the two previously lit candles before them. He watched her carefully and while her face did not change its placid expression, her eyes squinted in a faint actualization ever so slightly.</p><p>"Well," Strange said. "It was wonderful to meet you, but I really must be going now."</p><p>The Sorcerer moved to go, but the cloak stayed right where she was.</p><p>The woman flicked her eyes in his direction and then up at the cloak. She let out a chuckle as water trailed down her olive skin and Strange felt a knot form in his throat. He watched the cloak flit to the woman's head and draped above and around her, keeping her entire body dry. The woman's face contorted to that of confusion and realization as she gleamed over his features.</p><p>Stephen opened his mouth just as so, ready to offer an explanation to her. To tell this unknown stranger his role in the tragedy that had occurred a year ago and his sorrow at not being able to save everyone. Her eyes were like daggers as they pierced him,and he suddenly found himself without words as her tore through him.</p><p>"You!" There was accusation in her voice and her eyes gleamed with realization. "I remember you. You came when this happened and you took <em>everything </em>from me."</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katherine continued to glare at the man; her body filled with every emotion she had been feeling for the past year—anguish, hurt, anger, rage, loss—and they took a hold of her in a way she had never experienced.</p><p>A tiny voice in the far corners of her mind told her that she was being irrational to blame this man; he had saved the lives of many people, including her own. But as she took in his appearance, silhouetted by storm clouds and dressed like some modernized-hippy monk, all Katherine could do was feel outraged and disrespected.</p><p>He studied her a moment and then Katherine saw his appalled expression turn into one of beguiled amusement.</p><p>"I believe I remember you," Said this strange man and Katherine swore his words were a taunt.</p><p>Katherine sneered. "You had no right to use your powers to take me away from here..."</p><p>She knew before the words left her lips that she was being unjust, ridiculous even, but she could not stop herself. The one thing that had ever meant anything to her, gave her reasons to be alive—to exist—had been taken away from her and by some inconceivable act of intervention, she was back where she had first started in her life.</p><p>Katherine was alone.</p><p>"Though, if I remember correctly," The man had ignored her contempt, however and she turned her attention back to him.</p><p>"You were alone and heading straight for your death."</p><p>Katherine felt herself break on the inside and the pain flowed out of her mouth. "I was trying to find my parents! They came to see me and..."</p><p>The man paused in his words as she trailed off and her voice cracked. A tear fell down her cheek and she furiously wiped it away. At least she had been afforded the opportunity to say her emotions out loud to someone who had also been there—and he was also shielding her from the rain at his own expense.</p><p>That was some form of reprieve at the very least.</p><p>He nodded, watching her carefully. "Your only family?"</p><p>Katherine adverted her gaze to the ground and sniffed, nodding in response. The past year had been an absolute nightmare for her. She had spent that entire year feeling guilty; it gnawed at her and she continuously told herself it should have been her and not them. Of course, she kept in contact with the rest of the Griers, but deep down she knew that the only reason they had come to call her family was because David and Pamela had adopted her.</p><p>Oh, sure, they had had mourned and grieved with Katherine, even offered their condolences, but eventually the texts and calls got shorter until they weren't anymore. It was so they wouldn't have to face their own mortality and Katherine had understood, respected it enough to keep her distance.</p><p>They had to get back to their lives, yet she had to deal with her inner turmoil on her own and couldn't depend on anyone to take it away from her. It only strengthened her feelings of not deserving to be a part of that family anymore—her last name just served as a reminder that the people who she had come to call her parents had even existed in her life.</p><p>They had a purpose and reason to be in the world, yet Katherine did not.</p><p>And even if she did, that did not matter anymore.</p><p>Katherine was lucky that she hadn't been evicted out of her townhouse yet and thankfully, the landlady had been kind enough to let her grieve peacefully, but no one was trying to hire a nurse who had post-traumatic stress from an event like that. She still remembered the stinging bitterness that came after she received the phone call that they wouldn't hire her and the reason why.</p><p>It was unfair really, but her whole life had been unfair.</p><p>She had come to the realization that her life had died with her folks.</p><p>"I deserved to be the one that died." Her words were softer now, more forgiving. "Not them."</p><p>"No one deserves to die."</p><p>Her gaze jerked up to meet his. The man's face didn't change but his eyes did. He stepped back, and Katherine realized this man, whoever he was, had lived a lifetime of pain.</p><p>"I'm sorry I couldn't save your parents." He said to her softly.</p><p>Katherine watched as rain poured over the man, pasting his dark hair against his chiseled face. Thunder crashed overhead. The center of the storm was getting closer, but the man didn't move. In that instant, it occurred to her how selfish she was being. Here was this complete stranger, trapped in the rain and apologizing to her after he'd gone out of his way to save her life.</p><p>She hated herself in that moment, and the hatred fed on her guilt.</p><p>"It's not your fault," Katherine finally said. "It was never your fault. I should be the one apologizing. It was rude of me to blame everything on you—I should know better than anyone what it's like not to be able to save everyone."</p><p>He opened his mouth to say something else, but she stopped him with a shake of her head. There wasn't anything left to say anyway, and she needed to give him back his cape he had been so kind to lend her. After all, she enjoyed the faint numbness that accompanied the rain when it first touches the skin.</p><p>Katherine took a hold of the alien fabric that had molded itself around her and gently pulled at it to hand it back to the man.</p><p>But it wouldn't budge.</p><p>Frowning, she looked to him, taking a quick notice of his height compared hers, how near he was—but it did not matter right now—she tried again at removing the cloth. Again, it did not move, and its grip seemed to tighten on her a bit. She switched her gaze back and forth between the man and the cape—again, he responded with a blink and the corners of his mouth turned upward in slight amusement.</p><p>Her eyes locked onto the man as her self-loathing changed to apprehension. "If this is supposed to be your idea of a joke, I'm not laughing."</p><p>"Me? I'm not doing anything." He nodded at towards the scarlet fabric that had previously draped itself around her. "That's the Cloak of Levitation and I believe she likes you."</p><p>Katherine's mouth hung open slightly as she processed the words. Sure, she had her fair share of supernatural happen to her, but nothing like this. Even if it wasn't out of the realm of possibility, why was it happening at this exact moment?</p><p>"You—She?" Katherine glanced down at the cloth.</p><p>"I think of her as a she." He said. "But if you don't mind, I'd like to take her home now."</p><p>Katherine felt her eye twitch. "Please take your cape."</p><p>It's not like she had any plans for the day, but being caught in the middle of a rainstorm with a man who was clearly delirious, despite being a superhero, had reminded her why she stopped leaving her house in the first place.</p><p>"It's a cloak," the man corrected.</p><p>"I honestly don't care. Just get it off of me."</p><p>Katherine put her hand on her shoulder in attempt to remove the garb once again, however it still refused to budge. The man seemed to find this amusing. His lips curved into a smile, and his eyes narrowed as he regarded the crazy floating cape above her head.</p><p>"Would you mind telling me what you're doing?" the man asked.</p><p>Katherine felt her anger return. "Obviously, I'm trying to give this thing back to you!"</p><p>"I wasn't talking to you."</p><p>The man strolled towards her, and Katherine's felt her anger towards him turn into panic. He might have saved people's lives, but this man was obviously out of his mind. The closer he came, the more terrified she grew.</p><p>What if he decided to use his powers and toss her into another part of the city like he had before?</p><p>Or worse, another part of the country?</p><p>Katherine took a few steps back and he squinted at her—or maybe it was the cloak, she didn't know or care. She just knew she had to put as much distance between him and her as possible.</p><p>Katherine pivoted on her heel and ran like hell, not bothering to look back.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stephen found himself still standing in the middle of the downpour, watching in disbelief as the Cloak of Levitation left with the running woman she had chosen to shelter. After Mordo had taken it upon himself to eviscerate as many students at the Kamar-Taj as possible, there weren't that many left that could keep inventory of any existing magical artifacts that occupied this world.</p><p>The ones that were left, particularly the one that had become his right hand man and the young lady who had taken it upon herself to become the New York Sanctum's personal library, Wong and Zelma, would not be pleased with his lost of one of those items. Especially after finding out how he lost it, he was sure that Zelma would scold him and he had a pretty good idea of what Wong would say.</p><p>And it wouldn't be anything pleasant.</p><p>He raced down the sidewalk after the woman wearing the cloak. "Wait!"</p><p>She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes stretched wider, and she ran even faster. Stephen let an irritated sigh escape his lips and he slowed his pace to a stroll again. It was no use. He had frightened the woman and the closer he got to her, the more she'd flee. He had no delusions that the cloak had a mind of her own, after all, he couldn't control her and stopped trying long ago. It was just as well; she seemed to sense when there was danger and was always there to fight him when he needed her.</p><p>He found himself perturbed in the rainfall, but that hadn't been what bothered him. No, he had faced worse inconveniences than this; he was the Sorcerer Supreme of this world and even he questioned the his receiving of the title, he had done more than enough to prove it was his. However, what did trouble him was the reason behind the Cloak's behavior today.</p><p>Had the garb just been acting whimsical? Or had she saw something in this woman that he did not? Perhaps this woman would be his apprentice and if that were the case, did that mean the Cloak of Levitation had chosen her and another magical artifact would choose him? Maybe the cloak chose any one who had an ounce of magic in them.</p><p>No, that couldn't be it.</p><p>Had that been the case, she would have acted the same way towards Zelma. Strange was again, well, without answers to questions that troubled him. He let out a sharp breath and took a quick look around to make sure no one saw what he was about to do. With a silent incantation and the sling ring on his left hand, he opened the Mirror Dimension and stepped inside.</p><p>He checked his surroundings to make sure no one was near, and with a  silent incantation and the sling ring on his left hand, he opened the  Mirror Dimension and stepped inside.</p><p>'There.' He thought, now he could still see the woman, but she couldn't see him. At his annoyance, the weather inside the Mirror Dimension was just as bad as in the real one. He consigned himself to being soaked through as he followed at a distance.</p><p>He watched her as she finally stopped running and bent over to catch her breath. She stood back up hastily and quickly turned around to observe her surroundings, no doubt trying to figure out where he had disappeared to. Stephen stopped, too, and waited for her next move. If she had any capacity for magic, maybe she'd sense him—and for a second her gaze lingered on where he was, analyzing the empty space before her.</p><p>Carefully, she looked around and turned back in his direction with a look of annoyance and her lips pressed thinly. So, she did know he was there—this piqued his interest. The woman made another attempt at the cloak, but sighed at it's reluctance to let go.</p><p>"I suppose I have to take you home with me, huh?" She shook her head. "Yep, hopefully you'll come off once you're somewhere warm and—"</p><p>She paused and laugh. "Great, now I'm starting to sound even crazier than usual."</p><p>Stephen raised an eyebrow at this, but continued to silently observe. She continued on her trek and tried to stay under awnings as much as possible, even with the cloak making her stick out like a sore thumb. She  made a swift right at the first cross-street onto 5th and for a moment, the sorcerer thought he may have lost her in the small crowd of New Yorkers. He was able to catch up to her right as she made a left onto 12th street and people began to slow in their steps to stare after the woman.</p><p>Stephen kept a watchful eye over it all, quickening his pace to a few yards behind them. If anyone tried to harm either the woman or the cloak, he would be ready.</p><p>However, he had been so focused on following him, he hadn't notice where they had arrived to. She lived in Greenwich Village, a mere five minutes away from the city's Sanctum. He had cursed at his own short-sightedness; how come he had never noticed this woman before? How come the cloak had never acted this way until now?</p><p>Stephen then wondered if the cloak was aware of his presence; could sense him right behind her  somehow. As if in answer, the end of the cloak snapped toward him. Stephen stopped in midstride. Had he not been inside the Mirror Dimension, she would have hit him in the face.</p><p>The cloak knew he was there, then.</p><p>He smiled.</p><p>The woman walked for a few more blocks. The clouds overhead began to thin out and the rain softened. He had supposed the woman had made it her destination when she came to a stop in front of The Petersfield. It was an apartment building in the area and Strange found himself a bit taken back that she lived here. Greenwich Village was a rather expensive place to live and he was lucky enough to have the Sanctum as his own, free of charge, especially given the fact that he was unable to work as an actual doctor anymore.</p><p>As soon as she entered the lobby, the woman glanced down at the velvet cloak again. Stephen had considered stepping back through the Mirror Dimension, but with the desk clerks eyeing the woman with suspicion, he waited. One of the clerks cleared their throat and she let out a an awkward laugh.</p><p>She slowly backed towards the elevator and Stephen saw the cloak go limp, causing her to almost trip. The woman cursed, catching her balance and snatching at the item—finally, it was able to come off. She wrestled with the cloth and cursed, causing the desk clerks to look among themselves confused.</p><p>Stephen chuckled.</p><p>"Excuse me, miss?" One of the desk clerks called out.</p><p>"Are you having trouble? If so, one of us can—"</p><p>The woman gathered the dripping wet cloak in her arms and glared daggers at the clerk, whom dared offer her help. She was amusing, Stephen had admitted to himself and he waited for the Cloak of Levitation to object to being treated like a common article of clothing, but nothing happened.</p><p>The cloak simply rested in her hands.</p><p>"No, thank you. I'm fine."</p><p>"Are you su—"</p><p>She glared and marched to the elevator. The door dinged open and several inhabitants of the building exited and the woman squeezed inside. Stephen trailed after her, watching as she pressed a button for the fifth floor. The elevator doors closed and sealed them all inside.</p><p>She muttered something to herself, reaching into the purse on her shoulder and rummaging inside for something. Stephen saw her pull out a pair keys with small trinkets on it—one was a family photo. His eyes softened a bit as she stared at it for a moment, sniffed and stared ahead.</p><p>Stephen lifted his hands to exit the Mirror Dimension, but stopped short. If he appeared in this compacted space, there's no telling what the woman would do.</p><p>Scream, certainly.</p><p>Possibly even panic.</p><p>What would he have done years ago in her place if a  stranger suddenly materialized in an elevator? It wouldn't have been pretty.</p><p>He waited.</p><p>As he considered his options, the woman rested the cloak on her other arm. She looked in his direction momentarily and fixed her mouth to say something, but stopped. He hadn't paid any attention to her before, but being so close made it hard not to. Locks of chestnut stuck to her face and circled at the nap of  her neck. Her features were soft, warm and her rose-tinted lips matched perfectly with her olive complexion.</p><p>She was very beautiful, Strange admitted in his observance and eyes of curated of blue and green hues flickered a side-ward glance at him.</p><p>"I can't see you, but I know you're staring at me." She paused. "It's rude to stare."</p><p>He felt tempted, for just a moment, to come out and offer rebuttal to her claim, but it would have been a lie.</p><p>So, he continued to stay hidden and silent.</p><p>"Or, maybe you're not even there." She muttered and looked at the cloak. "Now, what am I going to do with this thing? I have no idea how or where to give it back."</p><p>The woman rolled her eyes. "I could just donate it to a thrift shop. I'm sure there's a kid in this city dying to complete their ringmaster costume."</p><p>'Ringmaster?' Stephen looked down at his clothing and scowled.</p><p>It was time to come out, this woman's fear be damned. He moved to step between dimensions, but the elevator had reached the fifth floor. The doors opened, and the woman stepped off of the elevator without a second glance back at him.</p><p>She was taunting him to reveal himself, he'd realized. He watched at her and followed in suit, the elevator closing behind him.</p><p>But, she had sensed him behind her before they had taken a dozen steps. She turned around, her eyes widened and she let out a shriek, clutching the cloak close to her chest. Not that she was surprised at his presence, but surprised that he had actually decided to reveal himself.</p><p>"I'm sorry to frighten you," Stephen said, "but I need that back now."</p><p>A couple of apartment doors opened down the hall as people peered out at the sudden noise.</p><p>"Everything's fine," Stephen called out to them.</p><p>An elderly man was at the door of his apartment and turned his attention to them. "Katherine, are you alright?"</p><p>"I'm fine, Olly!" She shouted in response. The man shook his head and went inside his apartment. Other residents followed, giving Strange suspicious glares as they shut their doors.</p><p>"I was going to dry it for you, but you can have it," the woman pulled on the cloak hanging from her arm.</p><p>It wouldn't budge.</p><p>Stephen sighed as he started down at the cloak. "This is really getting old."</p><p>The woman, who he'd come to know as Katherine, kept pulling. "You're telling me."</p><p>"Apparently, she'll come off of your arm when she's ready, and not a moment before. Where do you stay?"</p><p>Katherine went completely still. "You are not coming into my apartment."</p><p>"Nor do I want to. But..." Stephen sank to the carpet. "If she ever releases her hold, I'll be right here."</p><p>"You're not going to help me get it off?"</p><p>He shook his head. "There's nothing I can do short of ripping your arm out of its glenohumeral joint. Believe me, she'll let go when she's ready."</p><p>He crossed his legs and began to meditate.</p><p>She let out a frustrated groan. Stephen suppressed a grin. Even if  he'd heard nothing from her lips, her annoyance was tangible. The air inside the hallway was saturated with it.</p><p>Stephen listened as she walked. One step. Two... three—she stopped.</p><p>"Ugh," Katherine stomped her foot and Stephen opened his eye a bit to see her shaking her head. "Come with me. I have towels you can dry off with while we both wait for this damn thing to come off."</p><p>He opened his mouth to correct her, but she shot him a look and he closed it. Katherine waited as he stood back up; he followed behind her until she reached the fifth door down the hall. She stuck the key inside and the locking mechanism released.</p><p>She took a side step and ushered him in. "After you."</p><p>"It's your apartment, you go first." He responded calmly and she raised an eyebrow at him. A slightly smile crept across his face and she rolled her eyes at him, walking in.</p><p>He followed.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Katherine </b>found herself to be in a very precarious situation.</p><p>She let an absolute stranger know where she lived <b>and </b>into her apartment, willingly. Sure, there was that strong possibility of him not putting on a facade or marauding as a superhero during the day and a serial killer at night. Or he could very well <b>be </b>a superhero that saved her life and simply wanted his cloak back. After all, Katherine did not know this man from Adam; there was no way to gauge his intentions for her or if he was the one that was using his powers to make this cloak stay on her.</p><p>However, for some reason, she found comfort in his presence. In the back of her mind, she knew he did not mean her any harm; nevertheless, she continued to keep her guard up. She had walked in before him and immediately got behind the door, carefully shutting it and making sure her eyes were on him. He had not moved, however, just looked around poised with his hands carefully folded behind his back.</p><p>She slowly turned the locks of the door and stood against it for a moment. After a while, she supposed he felt her staring at him, because he glanced over his shoulder with an eyebrow raised and cleared his throat.</p><p>"It's rude to <b>stare</b>, you know."</p><p>Katherine blinked at him with a scrutinized look. "Oh, so you <em>did </em>hear me?"</p><p>He let out a low chuckle in response. "And you were able to sense me. How?"</p><p>"Lucky guess." Katherine nibbled at her bottom lip. "I suppose it's because of some latent ability."</p><p>"Ability?" He asked, a curious glint in his eyes. It was like he'd come to some miraculous conclusion of the sorts. She wanted to ask, but kept her thoughts to herself. </p><p>Katherine shrugged. "No idea. Does this thing take dry cleaning?" </p><p>She cut him off before he had time to question her more. </p><p>Stephan gave her a puzzled look, opening his mouth to respond, but she glided past him and disappeared down the hallway to her bathroom. Of course, he would be curious about that; maybe she could ask him that weird incident she experienced last year. Maybe it was him, maybe it wasn't—but deep down, Katherine knew it had been.</p><p>Those eyes of his were an unforgettable scribe on her mind.</p><p>She got a look of herself in her bathroom mirror and at the cloak. It was still stuck to her forearm, but she had become quite accustomed to the thick, leathery material; it weighed like cotton, which was the opposite of the feeling. It was certainly not anything she had in her wardrobe or would ever find. Admittedly, it actually looked like a pretty fancy garment—that was if she were planning on being a magician sometime soon.</p><p>Katherine paused at the thought and shook her head, grabbing two towels from the bathroom closet and heading back into her living room. The man was still standing in the same exact spot she had left him, and it eased her mind just a bit. </p><p>She handed him one of the towels and he stared at it like a foreign object. "Thank you."</p><p>She shook her head. "It's common courtesy. Besides, I still have to dry your cape."</p><p>"It's a cloak." He paused to look at over at her with amusement and she glowered. "I don't think she takes dry cleaning."</p><p>"Well <em>she </em>is getting dry one way or another. Please do <em>not </em>touch anything."</p><p>He nodded understandably and she disappeared down the hallway again into the laundry room. As soon as she started turning the dial on the dryer, she felt something shudder against her skin. Katherine froze, shaking her as if such a thing had been possible; surely the man in her living room was using his powers to toy with her.</p><p>At least that's the most logical conclusion she could come up with.</p><p>The cloak shuddered again, compressing itself tighter, almost as if it were shivering.</p><p>Before Katherine could react, it flew off her arm, out of the laundry room and down the hall.</p><p>Katherine let out a gasp and stumbled back, losing her balance and falling onto the floor. The man called out to her, but she was too startled to respond. She sat on the floor for a few seconds, listening to her heart pounding and wondering what on Earth had just happened. She longed to run out of her apartment and leave the crazy magician with his cape to their lonesome. Another part wanted wished everything that was happening—had happened—was simply a fever dream, she would wake up from any moment.</p><p>However, she knew that it would too kind of a request for the Trickster aspect of whatever Divinity that decided to interfere with her life at this particular moment. Her curiosity and natural affluence for the peculiar and idiosyncratic things that surrounded her since infancy, had gotten the best of her and she quietly tiptoed from the laundry room and down the hallway. She heard the sounds of wet thumps coming from the bathroom and eyed it cautiously.</p><p>Was it the cape?</p><p>And if so, what the hell was it <b>doing </b>in her bathroom?</p><p>Katherine walked closer to the bathroom and peeked inside. The cape was wringing the unwanted drops of rain out from itself to land in the bathtub; it was behaving as if at one point, it had actually had a body. The cape shook itself out, and then stopped as if seeing Katherine stare at it. All of a sudden, the damn thing lunged straight for her and she let out a scream that she was sure her entire floor heard.</p><p>It was almost instantaneously that she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders and she looked up to see the man staring down at her with a worried expression. She could get lost in the tinctures of his eyes, and for a moment, she felt herself become less tensed. However, the faint zephyr made her attention back to the piece of garment flying towards her. Another scream left her lips and she yanked herself from the man's grasp and bolted for the kitchen.</p><p>"Katherine!" He called out, but she couldn't offer a response.</p><p>She was too scared.</p><p>Katherine yanked open cabinets and draws in search of something defend herself from the crimson danger that was headed for her and snatched a knife from the draw, backing into a corner and pointing it at the cloak, that had halted in its path towards her. She had stopped breathing and her body quaked with fear.</p><p>"Why is this even happening to me right now?!" Her voice was shaky, as was the kitchen knife in her hand. The man glanced down the hallway with a scowl and Katherine blinked erratically, her eyes darting from to everywhere else around her home. Katherine felt like she was spiraling, going completing insane and wished that this day would finally be over.</p><p>He had come closer, and his hands cupped her face. "Breathe."</p><p>Maybe it had been the authoritative sound of his voice, or the intimacy of his warm touch on her cheeks that calmed her. Whatever it was, Katherine inhaled with a light gasp.</p><p>"Good," He nodded, his eyes lingering on her for a fleeting moment, before he removed his hands from her face. "Now, what happened?"</p><p>She pointed a shaky finger in the direction of her bathroom. The magician walked down the hallway with a sigh. Katherine heard him speak, his voice echoing through the darkness.</p><p>"Look, would you mind finishing this charade so we can go home?"</p><p>It was silent for a moment and Katherine watched in stunned disbelief as he returned into her view, the cape drifting close behind before coming to a rest on the man's shoulders.</p><p>"Thank you," He spoke, but he was glancing over his shoulder, obviously speaking to garment and not to Katherine.</p><p>Katherine swallowed hard. "So... it's really alive?"</p><p>"She seems to think so."</p><p>"How..." Katherine inhaled and exhaled slowly, carefully placing the knife onto the kitchen counter. "...How do you know that it's.... well, that it's a female?"</p><p>"I don't." He paused. "She acts like a woman, though."</p><p>Katherine raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "I beg your pardon?"</p><p>His eyes locked on hers. "With unpredictability, but fierce independence."</p><p>She tilted her chin up at him with a squint and she supposed it was a decent answer. Katherine eyed the cloak suspiciously and slowly walked over to touch it, see if it would respond to her, but it hadn't.</p><p>Katherine looked up at him. "Just who <em>are</em>you?"</p><p>"Doctor Stephen Strange." He held out his hand.</p><p>Katherine reached out to grasp it with shaky fingers. "Katherine Grier, but I think you already know my name."</p><p>"Well, it's nice to officially meet you, Katherine. Again, I am sorry for your loss. I wish I could have done more to bring them back to you."</p><p>Stephen moved to leave, but the cloak held him back. Katherine watched as Stephen tried time after time to take a step to the door but kept getting pulled right back where he stood. Like an a dog collar, the cape prevented him from getting the exit. The sight made Katherine smile and it was her first real one in months.</p><p>"I think she <em>is</em>female," Katherine said with a light laugh.</p><p>Stephen gave up on moving and sighed. "I'm glad the two of you have bonded."</p><p>"Well," Katherine pursed her lip. "I wouldn't say 'bonded', but sure, if that's what you'll call it. I suppose you're not crazy after all."</p><p>He gave her a sour look.</p><p>"How did you appear out of nowhere in the hallway? I mean, I could tell you were there, but..." She frowned and nibbled at her lower lip. "I couldn't see you. Why was that?"</p><p>"I traveled through dimensions with the help of this." He held up his left hand and pointed to a huge, but lackluster flat ring that took up half of his knuckles.</p><p>She shook her head. "Through dimensions? I thought you were just invisible."</p><p>"Don't be ridiculous."</p><p>Katherine cocked her brow. "Oh, so that's the ridiculous part? Right..."</p><p>He slanted a look at her, but Katherine could tell he was amused. She pondered her thoughts as they stood there, staring at one another, wet from the rain, and trapped by the whimsy of some magical cape. She couldn't help but laugh at the insanity of the situation.</p><p>"Well, since we're both stuck here..." He spoke through the silence that had enveloped between them and leaned against the wall and cross his arms over his chest. Apparently, the cloak had allowed him that freedom at least. </p><p>"Do you...want anything to drink? I have water, tea, juice..." Katherine pointed at her fridge.</p><p>There it was again.</p><p>That smile on his face, the pain that hid behind his eyes. Katherine knew it all too well herself.</p><p>He shook his head and politely declined. "I've been in worse situations, but I appreciate the offer."</p><p>"Oh," Katherine nodded slowly. "I, um, well, I'll bring more towels, then."</p><p>"I assure you, I'm fine, Miss Grier."</p><p>They grew silent once more and Katherine felt vulnerable and stupid standing in front of this obtuse 'doctor', who wouldn't stop studying her face; it was as if there was a puzzled locked inside her features and he was trying to mend it together with his eyes. She turned her attention onto something else and went into her kitchen to close the cabinets and draws she had snatched and pulled open in her panic.</p><p>"We should get to know each other." She heard him say.</p><p>"Where are you from?"</p><p>Katherine paused at the question before answering.  "Casper—its a city in Wyoming."</p><p>He nodded. "I've never been inside the city, but I've flown through there a few times."</p><p>The cape fluttered against his back, making it seem as if waves were rolling over its fabric. Stephen glanced behind him and let out a chuckle.</p><p>"Perhaps I should formally introduce her to you as well." He gestured between the cape and Katherine. "Cloak of Levitation, meet Katherine Grier."</p><p>Katherine propped herself up onto the kitchen count, sliding back and crossing her legs. "She doesn't have a name?"</p><p>"If she does, she hasn't told it to me yet. Maybe you could ask her." His smile widened. He'd made a joke and Katherine pressed her tongue to her teeth and shook her head with a smile. Strangely enough, he made nice company to have and Katherine found herself becoming a little more comfortable, safer around him.</p><p>The cloak held out a part of its fabric to Katherine. She glanced down at it, startled by the gesture and reached back out to touch it. The cloak wrapped itself gently around her hand and shook it up and down before letting go.</p><p>Katherine shuddered.</p><p>Stephen watched this exchange with fascination. He glanced at the cloak, then back at the odd woman before him—he had come across a lot of regular people in his time as the Sorcerer Supreme, but never someone quite like Katherine. An intense look of concentration returned to his face.  Then, as if he'd suddenly made up his mind about something, he moved from the wall to stand up straight.</p><p>"If you could be anywhere in the world right now," Stephen said. "Where would you be?"</p><p>Katherine shrugged. "I don't know. Why?"</p><p>"Just a question."</p><p>Katherine eyed him suspiciously and thought about the question. It seemed innocent enough and she pursed her lips. Where <b>would </b>she go if she could? To visit her folks back in Wyoming. Dear lord, no, they'd freak out if she appeared before them out of nowhere. Besides, there was nothing left for her, except bittersweet memories.</p><p>"I've always wanted to visit Greece."</p><p>"What's in Greece?"</p><p>"I thought you were just asking a question, Stephen."</p><p>He eyed her. "Just tell me."</p><p>"The beaches are really pretty."</p><p>"Which one do you have in mind?"</p><p>She glared. "I don't know. I've never been so how could—you know what? Just pick one!"</p><p>"If you insist."</p><p>He came to stand right by her.</p><p>Katherine felt herself tense, but before she could order him to move, the crazy doctor pulled his hands out in front of them and rotated his wrists. From the surface of his hands, Katherine could see thick scar lines running from his wrist all the way to his fingertips. She opened her mouth to ask what had happened to him, but the question died in her throat.</p><p>A tiny golden circle of light appeared in front of Katherine.</p><p>It grew in size until it was huge, big enough to walk through.</p><p>Katherine gasped.</p><p>Inside the circle was a breath-taking ocean view. She was about to ask the magician how he created such an elaborate illusion, when the warm salty air hit her face. She took a deep breath and inhaled the ocean.</p><p>No one could fake that.</p><p>Could they?</p><p>The sun was rising, and the beach was deserted except for a couple monk seals dozing down the shoreline. The waves broke violently against the shore, spraying their watery foam up into the air. Katherine stepped back on the floor and stared wide-eyed at the view before her; she couldn't help herself. She walked right on through and had expected doing so to feel otherworldly, however it felt surprisingly natural.</p><p>Somewhere from the deep crevice of her mind, an unfamiliar memory arose. She was a child outside playing in the nearby woods of her family home and a portal had appeared to her then. However, instead of a golden circle with a breath-taking view on the other side, all that stared back at her was an endless abyss.</p><p>Colors and shapes spun inside it in a dizzying array and she found herself drawn towards it. There was something about the darkness that was welcoming. Something familiar. It made her feel that much more alive and it was in that moment she had walked inside.</p><p>The memory fizzled out as soon as it had come, and she shook her head. This wasn't something she had remembered happening or doing, but even so, it reminded her of the same perverted darkness that had been in the corner of her room and had allowed her to see this 'Doctor Strange', before she had met ever known who he was. That memory could have not been any more real than the sand beneath her feet and the seagulls that squawked loudly above.</p><p>Katherine knelt down and picked up a handful of the soft sand. As she rubbed it together between her fingers, the gritty texture on the surface combined with the wet thicker sand underneath. </p><p>The sun's rays grew stronger overhead, creeping through the clouds and warming her back as another cool wave gurgled up to the shoreline. It splashed against her feet, before retreating back into the Ionian Sea—Katherine had known <b>that </b>much. The ocean was like any she had ever laid her eyes upon—and there were definitely not many.</p><p>She was familiar with the faint blues and greens of the California shoreline that she had seen on family vacations with her parents. Not this cerulean-colored water that was utterly untouched by mankind and rested peacefully in this part of the world. Katherine was utterly speechless at her surroundings and closed her eyes to inhale the sea once more.</p><p>"We're in Zakynthos."</p><p>The sound of Stephen's voice startled Katherine. She had honestly forgotten all about him and the crazy musings of the day.</p><p>Stephen didn't seem to notice, however.</p><p>He nodded behind him to the ship wreckage behind them and grey rock formations. "Navagio Beach, to be precise. It's hidden off the coast of the island."</p><p>She stared at him in stunned silence. "You've...been here before?"</p><p>"I used to. Occasionally."</p><p>Katherine had no reply. The gold circle, no gold <b>portal</b>, behind Stephen sealed itself shut, and her living room disappeared. Katherine trembled with the memory of having one shot behind her last year, the one that took her away from her parents.</p><p>What the hell <b>was</b> she doing here?</p><p>"It's impossible to get here by land, however." She watched him walk closer to the shoreline. "You have to take a boat to get here, but trips are only during the day. No one is allowed to come here past that time."</p><p>He grinned at her. "Well, <b>almost </b>no one."</p><p>Emotions tumbled around inside Katherine, one vying for her attention. Fear, surprise, awe and even anger again. She stood up and if looks could kill, the Sorcerer was sure he would have been fish food.</p><p>"You're not happy," Stephen said. "I can tell."</p><p>Katherine scowled. "This is obviously an illusion."</p><p>"Okay, fine." He rolled his eyes.  "How about this, then?"</p><p>He waved his hands and another portal appeared. Before she could protest, he took her arm and guided her inside with him.</p><p>Now they were inside a city at night. The soft glow of streetlamps cast their silhouettes into long shadows. The smell and sounds of this city were completely different from her home in New York however. Katherine risked a glance behind her and saw Stephen's portal close yet again, this time with Kauai dissolving away instead of her apartment.</p><p>She sniffed air and her forehead creased. "Where are we, now?"</p><p>A soft smile formed on Stephen's lips. "Tell you what—Why don't you walk around and find out?"</p><p>Katherine opened her mouth to protest but shook her head and started walking forward with no idea where she was going. She had no idea what he thought he was doing, but she honestly just wanted to go home and go to sleep. </p><p>Stephen stayed a step behind her, always present, but never intruding. The streets were cobblestone and they looked old, but maybe it was the shadows that made them appear darker than they were. The streetlights and the warm glow from nearby cafés felt softer than the neon lights that glared out at her back home.</p><p>It wasn't until she walked a bit further through the night and saw the Eiffel Tower that she knew for sure.</p><p>She stopped cold and swiftly turned to face Stephen. "You brought me to Paris?"</p><p>"I did," He stared at pass her and at the people that walked by. "Unless you think this is an illusion as well."</p><p>"I'm... " She sighed. "I don't even know anymore."</p><p>Her head on a swivel, Katherine no longer trusted her eyes. She went closer to the Eiffel Tower, taking in the sights of the small cars driving nearby, the sounds of laughter on the night air. This couldn't possibly be an illusion, but there was only one way to find out.</p><p>Katherine headed to the nearest pedestrian, an older lady walking her tiny dog.</p><p>"<em>Pardonnez-moi, pouvez-vous me dire où je suis</em>?" Katherine carefully spoke.</p><p>The woman eyed her clothes, her face, and frowned at her. "<em>Quoi? Comment ne savez-vous pas où vous êtes</em>?"</p><p>"Ummm...<em>je suis un peu perdu</em>?" Katherine trailed off, trying to think of something else she remembered from her high school French class.</p><p>However, nothing came.</p><p>The woman rolled her eyes. "<em>Vous êtes un Américain, n'est-ce pas</em>?"</p><p>Stephen came to her rescue. "She's asking if you're American."</p><p>"Oh."  Katherine felt embarrassed. "I—<em>Oui, je suis américain, mais je ne parle pas beaucoup français</em>?"</p><p>"You were thinking this couldn't be real, and you were testing your theory." He said, low enough so that she could hear him, and she turned to face him with annoyance. However, Stephen's eyes once again trapped hers, and she felt like he could see right through her.</p><p>The woman started speaking even more words in French. Katherine was no expert, but it sounded like she was getting impatient. Stephen turned to the lady and smiled. Fluent French poured from his lips. The woman returned his smile, said something to him, and trotted along with her dog.  Katherine placed a hand on her forehead and laugh lightly. She knew it, she had gone completely off her rockers. This had to be a dream she had concocted up herself. This man wasn't here.</p><p>None of this couldn't be real. For all she knew, this entire encounter was a dream that she would wake up from soon; at least she hoped to.</p><p>"What did you even say to her?" She snapped at him.</p><p>Stephen arched a brow. "I told her that she was as lovely as the evening, and that you were a student of mind. She commended you on your French and told you to keep it up."</p><p>"Fascinating." Katherine started walking around again. "All of this is...so...I don't know."</p><p>He exhaled slowly. "I'm trying to prove to you that none of this is trick—or a dream. That we're actually walking through time and space."</p><p>"Why?" She wore the same pained look on her face from earlier that day. "Why are you...doing all this to prove something to me? Please, if you could explain to me, I—I would love to know."</p><p>Stephen pressed his lips thinly, before he spoke. "In all honesty, I'm not sure. From the moment I arrived at that memorial, the Cloak has been trying to focus all of my attention on you and I don't know why. I hate not knowing."</p><p>"Yeah, well," Katherine held her head down. "Me too."</p><p>Again, they found themselves encased in silence.</p><p>"How about I take you back to your apartment." He offered.</p><p>Katherine nodded. "That would be lovely."</p><p>Another portal, another few steps, and there they were back inside her apartment at The Petersfield.</p><p>"This has been an extremely eventful day." Katherine muttered to herself. She glanced to a window and noted the sun beginning to set. Outside, it was still daylight, but of course it would be. France was in an entirely different part of the world altogether. As if on cue, she turned back around to face Stephen, but didn't see him or the cloak. She didn't know why, but she felt disappointed at his lack of presence.</p><p>Maybe had had opened a portal and gone back to where he'd come from.</p><p>But then, she heard someone clear their throat and her eyes lit up expeditiously. Katherine turned to see him with the bath towel she had offered him previously. It was still folded. He hadn't even bothered using it and Katherine frowned.</p><p>"How long have you stayed in New York?" He asked.</p><p>Katherine let out a snort. "I came here about three years ago. I worked at the Lenox, but I—I couldn't keep working after a while."</p><p>She could tell by the look on his face, he wanted to ask why, but she didn't let him. "I was honestly considering taking up my cousin's offer of moving back home. I don't think I can keep affording to pay for this place, anyway."</p><p>Stephen's eyes softened, and she finally had to look away.</p><p>"I don't want your pity." She said, her words bitter.</p><p>"I'm not offering you pity," He retorted. "But I <em>am </em>offering you a place to stay if you'd like. The entire second floor of...my home is full of empty rooms. If you though the dimensional portals were interesting, I promise you haven't seen the half of it."</p><p>He held out his hand to her. "It has to be your choice."</p><p>Katherine stood in a place between the normalcy she had so desperately desired and to the mysterious, otherworldly things that she had begun to welcome into her life. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't deny what happened to her today—or any other days for that matter. Maybe he had the answers to her own questions, to her own mysteries. It was like, in this moment, she was finally embracing her purpose—her destiny—she had found somewhere to belong.</p><p>At least she hoped that to be the case.</p><p>She finally, tentatively, reached for his hand. For a split second, she faltered until her eyes met his and their fingers entangled with one another.</p><p>"Alright," Katherine said. "I'll come with you."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Katherine </b>stepped through the portal and into a mansion with modern architecture that looked more like the entrance to an art gallery than a true home. The polished floor was made from different kinds of wood, or what looked like wood at least. She had never seen any material like this before; not in any place she had visited anyhow.</p><p>A sunburst symbol cast in black lighter wood tones lay in front of a staircase, with elaborate geometric patterns accenting its center—Katherine turned to admire the soft, warm lighting and noticed two paintings framing the front door, but nothing compared to the majestic staircase before her. It was wide enough for a full-grown elephant to ascend to the floor above and Katherine couldn't help but stare in absolute awe at everything around her.</p><p>For some reason, she felt more at home in this place than she had her entire life.</p><p>"Where...are we?" Katherine asked softly, making sure to be careful in her steps in fear of accidentally damaging something.</p><p>"177A Bleecker Street." She was taking in everything around her and Stephen couldn't help but smile.</p><p>"Welcome to the Sanctum Sanctorum."</p><p>Katherine glanced over her should warily at him. "Your home has a name, but your cloak doesn't?"</p><p>His smile widened slightly. "Touché."</p><p>He gestured for her to lead the way, but Katherine knew not where she would go. Besides, she was too busy admiring the patterns on the floor, the designs on the walls. Lines intersecting with shapes that felt familiar, though she couldn't say why. She wished to touch them but fought back the temptation to do so. When they arrived at the second floor, there was similar décor—Ancient Egyptian busts and various artifacts from antiquity tucked away in corners, yet still visible. Suddenly, she turned down a corner and it turned into a crossroads of dark, yet alluring corridors—unfortunately, Katherine knew not where she was and if hadn't been for Stephen, she was sure she would have found herself lost in the never-ending maze of a home.</p><p>"The bedrooms are this way." Stephen said, making a right. Katherine followed him until the designs and decor became minimalist and simple. Walls of art became replaced by rows of doors all unique in their own rights.</p><p>"Wow." Katherine went to admire the intricate design of one door. "How many people live here?"</p><p>"Three." He replied. "Though, I'm not sure if Zelma's returned."</p><p>Katherine raised a curious brow. "Another magical inanimate object or your wife?"</p><p>"Neither." Stephen replied hastily, almost as if he was annoyed. Katherine threw up her hands in playful defense. The Sorcerer eyed her with annoyance, but she couldn't help but keep prying.</p><p>"I'm just teasing you, Doctor." She said jokingly, but Strange's expression said otherwise. "If she's not either of those things, then what is she to you?"</p><p>Stephen eyed her for a moment before responding. "A former student of mine. I saved her life once and she decided on her own she wanted to be the Sanctum's in-house librarian."</p><p>Katherine mouthed an 'oh' and he rolled his eyes. She stifled a laugh as they continued down the hallway. Stephen went on to explain to her how he wished to one day, turn the Sanctum into an academy for the mystic arts and train students in it. He was obviously a very passionate man with high ambitions and Katherine appreciated the Sorcerer's vision for the future.</p><p>"Were you trained here?" Katherine asked.</p><p>He shook his head. "I was trained under Mordo and the Ancient One at Kamar-Taj, though it feels like a lifetime ago."</p><p>"Karma-what?"</p><p>"Kamar-Taj, it's in Nepal." He stopped in front of a door tinted deep lavenders and lilacs, etched with silver trimming. "Perhaps, one day I'll take you for a visit."</p><p>Katherine nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Do I get a cool new name if I start training?"</p><p>"Do you want one?" He replied back light-heartedly. "I'm sure I could come up with a good one."</p><p>She shrugged with a smile. "I'm sure you can, <b><em>Doctor</em></b> Stephen Strange. Is this my room?"</p><p>"Yes." He was smiling again, but this time it was genuine. "I figured the colors would...suit you."</p><p>Katherine pursed her lips but didn't respond. She was grateful for the light conversation, the freedom he allowed her as she explored. While he never said so, she imagined that she could open any of these doors, touch anything she wanted, and he would welcome her fascination and delight at each new experience. She wondered how long he'd lived alone here but didn't dare ask.</p><p>At the end of the hallway she noticed three enormous windows running from floor to ceiling. She came toward them with tentative steps. She'd never seen windows like these before. Each one showed a different place and none of them was Greenwich Village. All of them were in motion, alive behind the glass.</p><p>"Holograms?" Katherine asked as she pointed to the windows.</p><p>"See for yourself."</p><p>She frowned and walked toward them, wondering why none of these windows showed New York. The one to her left displayed a lush rainforest. The one in front of her had the crashing waves in the middle of the ocean. And the one to her right showed a vast desert. She'd never seen holographic pictures appear so alive.</p><p>"Those are dimensional gateways," Stephen said.</p><p>"Do you mean..." She glanced at Stephen, then back at the windows. "Do you mean they open to a real place?"</p><p>Stephen opened one of the windows in answer, the one with the rainforest. He stepped inside, cloak and all. Katherine had no idea what expression was on her face, but whatever it was made the magician in front of her smile. He held out a hand to her.</p><p>"The Amazon Basin awaits. Just do us both a favor and don't turn that dial you see next to the window. It will close this portal and open another somewhere else in the world."</p><p>She nodded gravely and stepped inside.</p><p>Definitely not a hologram, she thought. The humid air and earthy scents of wet wood and the sweet nectar filled her nostrils. What sounded like white noise to her urban ears enveloped everything in sound. A screech from a monkey floated down from somewhere above her. She glanced back and saw the Sanctum, or whatever he called his home, waiting through the open window on the other side.</p><p>"I feel like Alice," she said.</p><p>"How many looking glasses would you like to explore?" Stephen kept a hold on her hand as they left the rainforest to reenter the Sanctum. Katherine noticed, not for the first time, that his hands shook ever-so-slightly. She wanted to ask, but didn't think it appropriate, so she just observed them silently.</p><p>"As lovely as that sounds," Katherine let out a laugh. "I have a feeling that we'd be at this forever, so one is enough for the night."</p><p>If he was disappointed with her lack of adventure, he didn't show it. He closed the glass window—or maybe it was a door—behind them and turned the dial next to it. The rainforest disappeared and a stark arctic scene took its place. His expression was solemn as he met her gaze.</p><p>Katherine sighed. "I get it. No touching the dials."</p><p>"You can turn the controls whenever you'd like, but don't get trapped inside. I can come back whenever I want..." He held up the hand with the giant lackluster ring. "But you can't. Not unless you learn how to travel through the multiverse."</p><p>"The multiverse?"</p><p>"Parallel universes. Some like ours, some far worse."</p><p>Inside Katherine's mind, she flashed to the same place she'd seen earlier today when she'd first walked through the portal. A place full of darkness, a powerful being obsessed with malice and torment, but it disappeared so quickly she couldn't be sure. She frowned, not at Stephen, but her own thoughts, her own memories.</p><p>What was that?</p><p>Why did she keep seeing it?</p><p>Why couldn't she <b>remember </b>it?</p><p>"The Sanctum Sanctorum is full of mystic energy and has quirks even I am still learning about." Stephen's voice broke through her vision, bringing her back to reality inside this crazy house.</p><p>"Would you like to see more?" He asked.</p><p>Of course, she wanted to see more—Katherine wanted to see everything. Minutes turned into hours, she was sure, and yet Stephen never grew impatient, never asked her if she'd seen enough. He simply watched her with those analytical eyes of his. She wondered again if he ever spent much time with other people. Probably not, she decided, especially if he dressed like that.</p><p>She was about to go up the last flight of stairs to the third floor when she saw a staircase hanging upside down in the far corner of the house. It looked a lot like a M.C. Escher portrait, but it had to be real. When was anything a simple portrait in this place? She came closer and saw that the upside-down staircases weren't only in this corner of the second level. Rows of those stairs were all over the second floor, some leading down and some up. Some seemed to lead nowhere at all.</p><p>Katherine gazed at one on the ceiling, shaking her head. "Honestly, I don't see the point of stairs that lead nowhere."</p><p>"Who says they lead nowhere?"</p><p>"These stairs <em>can't</em> go anywhere. They're upside down."</p><p>"Are they? Or are you the one who's upside down?"</p><p>Just when Katherine thought she'd seen everything; Stephen walked to a corner and placed his foot on the first step. She watched in shock as he continued up (or was it down?) the stairs and on to the ceiling.</p><p>"How... how did you do that?" she stammered, staring up at him.</p><p>He smiled. "The power of belief."</p><p>Katherine shook her head firmly. "This is getting ridiculous."</p><p>He chuckled. He seemed to be enjoying himself up there. "How so?"</p><p>"Seeing guys in leotards swinging from webs and blind vigilantes is one thing," Katherine pointed at him. "But you—this place—is in a completely different world of its own."</p><p>He shook his head. "Our minds shape our reality, Katherine. I think it shaped yours a long time ago, forcing you to see yourself as a victim for who knows how long."</p><p>She digested his words as he came down from the steps, his magic cloak flowing behind him. When he stood back in front of her again, she expected him to keep giving a lecture on her reality. But he didn't. He just stood there, waiting, allowing her to be the one to decide where they should go from here.</p><p>"I didn't ask to lose my parents and I sure as hell didn't ask for my entire life to be surrounded by shit I can't even beginning to explain," Katherine paused, feeling her heart race and she glared off into some unknown place, some unknown memory of anger, of regret, of guilt. She thought about Elliot and his parents. About what happened in Seattle and her shoulders slacked as she held her head in defeat.</p><p>His words stung, but he was right.</p><p>Stephen hadn't uttered a word, Katherine was sure if she poured out all of her feelings right then and there, he wouldn't judge her for it. He just listens silently and offer some mystical advice about life, probably. Even now, he was just observing her, watching her. Tightening her jaw, she decided to go up to the third floor on <em>real </em>stairs that actually led to a <em>real</em> floor and not the ceiling.</p><p>She ascended to the third level, and that's when she realized just how mystical this place truly was. In front of her was a circular window with swooping lines running across the glass. The lines ran up and down like a stretched tic-tac-toe board gone askew. A large circle was carved into the floor before the window, every part filled with intricate symbols. Candles lined the sides, and cushions waited along the wall. It looked like the perfect spot for prayer. Or meditation.</p><p>But it was the floor to ceiling artifacts that captured her attention. Statues and ancient Egyptian relics accented the space. Many of them remained secure behind glass cases. Some were displayed out in the open. It was like being inside a history museum. Books lined the walls on shelves that reached to the ceiling. Katherine didn't see a ladder, but then again, who needs a ladder when you can walk on the ceiling?</p><p>"The Chamber of Relics," Stephen said.</p><p>His magic cloak drifted from his shoulders and flew on ahead of them as they walked, as if guiding their way. Katherine followed along, admiring the various weapons and armor. Whenever she stopped in front of a glass case, Stephen explained what she was staring at.</p><p>"The Wand of Watoomb." Stephen pointed out a brass rod with a skull on its tip. "Usually kept in the Hong Kong Sanctum. It chose a fellow sorcerer named Wong as its keeper. Just as the Cloak of Levitation chose me."</p><p>"Chose?"</p><p>He nodded around the room. "Each magical relic chooses its sorcerer when he or she is ready."</p><p>"How does a relic...?" Katherine shook her head. "Never mind."</p><p>They continued their journey around the third floor. Katherine wanted to see everything; learn about every incredible object she saw even if she wouldn't remember its name later. There was something called the Evil Eye, that she'd probably never touch now thanks to its name. The Brazier of Bom'Galiath. The Orb of Agamotto. And a lot of axes hanging on walls that apparently didn't have any magical properties at all. Just when she was about to ask if she could crash in one of those empty bedrooms, a full-length mirror in the middle of the room caught her eye.</p><p>"The Mirror of Medea," Stephen said. "It allows those it chooses to see scenes from their future." He stepped closer to the mirror, closer to her. "Do you see anything?"</p><p>Katherine stared into the black glass that reflected nothing and shook her head. "All I see is darkness."</p><p>He sighed. "Yeah, I've never seen anything inside it either. Wong thinks it's broken."</p><p>"Wong?" She frowned. "Oh, right. The guy who uses that wand thing."</p><p>"The Wand of Watoomb, yes. And he's one of the caretakers of the Sanctums, though he's in Kamar-Taj at the moment."</p><p>Katherine covered a yawn. "Maybe I should get some sleep."</p><p>Stephen nodded, and gestured for her to go first toward the stairs. Katherine led them down the last aisle of relics but was too exhausted to ask any questions about them. As she made the last turn, she saw a black spark inside one of the smaller glass enclosures. For a fleeting moment, it felt familiar to her, somehow, but that feeling quickly dissipated.</p><p>"Wait!" Stephen ordered.</p><p>Katherine froze. "What's wrong?"</p><p>He nodded to the tiny black object inside the glass display case. Katherine squinted and saw a small dark stone, no bigger than an infant's fingernail.</p><p>"It doesn't look that dangerous," she said.</p><p>"No one knows how dangerous it is. It's an energy gem taken from the Dark Dimension by the Ancient One." Stephen studied the black gem as it glistened.</p><p>Katherine rubbed her arms. This room suddenly felt much colder. "You mean that black hole might open up again? Right here in this room?"</p><p>"The notes I read on its properties suggest if the Dark Dimension opens, the gem will grow large enough to fill this entire enchanted case. It certainly grew to that size a year ago."</p><p>"So... we're safe?"</p><p>He smiled at her. "You're safe here, Katherine. I promise."</p><p>He allowed her to lead the way back to the second floor, but every time Katherine turned back, she could see the look of worry on his face. Something about the gem had upset him, and Katherine pondered her own thoughts.</p><p>When they reached the second floor, she went to the bedroom he'd gleefully picked out of for her, that was two doors down from that Zelma woman he had mentioned earlier and one room down, across from his chose a bedroom one room down and across from his. Close enough for her to feel secure, but far enough away so that she still had her privacy. The modern bedroom had an Asian vibe, with vibrant red and purple hues on the paintings and bedsheets. Stephen turned on several stained-glass lamps and pointed out her private bath.</p><p>It was then Katherine realized she didn't have any clothes with her. Stephen created another portal, and in a matter of seconds, she walked right back into her apartment retrieve them.</p><p>"Okay," Katherine lugged about several bags of clothes and shoes to the bed as Stephen's portal closed behind her. "I really want one of those, but to be honest...I'm not sure if I want to be trained yet to be...whatever you are."</p><p>To be honest, I'm not sure yet if I want to be trained to be... whatever you are."</p><p>"A sorcerer."</p><p>"Right. It just sounds so... "</p><p>He smiled. "Strange?"</p><p>"Ironically enough."</p><p>His face softened. "I was once where you were, Katherine. I understand your hesitation, so please believe me when I tell you that no one will force you down a path you don't wish to take, least of all me."</p><p>"Well, thank you."</p><p>Stephen showed himself to the door. He crossed the threshold, and then turned, as if remembering something.</p><p>"Oh, one thing..."</p><p>Katherine threw her suitcase up on the bed and started to unpack. "What is it?"</p><p>"Do yourself a favor and stick to the main stairs and corridors, at least when you're alone. The Sanctum sometimes likes to... shift around. I once got trapped behind a wall."</p><p>Katherine's face contorted to one of surprise, shock and disbelief.</p><p>Stephen grinned. "Well, goodnight."</p><p>And with those parting words, Katherine was left alone.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><b>Stephen's </b>eyes lingered on Katherine's door long after she had entered and was sound asleep. For reasons he did not know, he found himself battling conflicting feelings for this mundane woman; but there was nothing mundane about Katherine Grier.</p><p>He knew that if he sensed her natural magical prowess—which was far superior than his own—and the fluctuations of them that came with the faintest change in her emotions, other beings across the multiverse would have as well.</p><p>Perhaps, fate had indeed brought the two of them together—after all, in this practice, he had discovered that nothing was by chance or by coincidence. Again, he found himself tip-toeing around this new found curiosity—attraction—to her. However, whether her presence would be a servant of good will or a harbinger of darkness, however, was to be determined.</p><p>It was the sound of a loud thud and cursing echoing down the hall, that snapped Stephen from his thoughts. He was immediately instantly and it were some inter-dimensional intruder in search of something within the Sanctum, he would be sure they regretted stepping foot into this universe. Much to his dismay, however, he was greeted by a familiar petite frame dragging something up the stairs hidden inside a wool sack.</p><p>Zelma glanced over at him over a pair of glasses that were obviously a size too big, because they would slide down the bridge of her nose whenever she made the gesture. She was lean as an alley cat, equally quick and graceful in her motions; brown-skinned and white-toothed and clever eyed. He made a slight motion with his hands and a golden light enveloped the satchel, which caused his former student to roll her eyes.</p><p>"I went through a lot of trouble to get that thing, so please be careful with it." She snapped and he playfully pretended to drop the item, which caused the woman to glare.</p><p>"I didn't know you would be back so soon," He said and she clicked her teeth in response, adjusting her glasses. "Where do you want me to put...well, whatever <em>this </em>is?"</p><p>However, Stephen didn't know what<em> this </em>was. The Sorcerer knew it had been of arcane origin, since Zelma had decided to take up the responsibility of retrieving the ones scattered in this realm, but he did not recall reading about one of this gargantuan size.</p><p>"It's the Iris of the All-Seeing Oracle," Stephen's eyes went wide at the revelation and the Librarian grinned. "I was tracking it for months, you know? It'll have to go in the Arcane Vault, because I tried using a shrinking spell on it, but it would not take at all."</p><p>Stephen nodded, gestured his hands upward and the satchel levitated in the air with ease. Zelma muttered a spell under her breath, clasp her hands together and before the pair a single slice within the spaces of reality appeared. The woman made another careful gesture with her hands and the slit grew taller and wider.</p><p>Strange guided the artifact through the space and into the Vault; he made sure to be careful as he placed it on a mantle in the center of the room. This was the place they put the more larger or dangerous artifacts. It existed in a pocket dimension of Strange's own design.</p><p>He returned back to the third floor of the Sanctum with haste and just as she had parted a path between time and space, Zelma closed it with a light clasp of her hands.</p><p>"I suppose you'll be leaving again?" Stephen questioned and Zelma shrugged.</p><p>"I haven't been able to track down a few things," She let out a sigh. "So, if you need me here, I can stay."</p><p>Strange stroked his chin. "I have a favor to ask, if that's the case then."</p><p>"I'm listening." Zelma leaned against the railing of the stairs and eyed him.</p><p>"Well," He closed his eyes. "I think I've found my apprentice—the Cloak found her, not me. I put her in a room across from you and I was hoping you could befriend her."</p><p>Zelma was silent for a moment and then spoke. "How'd you find her, Strange?"</p><p>"At the memorial." He words were low, quiet as he thought back to the events of last year and of the day—they seemed mesh together in spiteful, colorful blur. Zelma pursed her lips as silence befell the two of them. After a few minutes, she nodded her head slowly.</p><p>"I can't imagine she just agreed to any of this,"Zelma let out a light chuckle and tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "But, sure, I'll do you this <em>one </em>favor, since you asked so nicely."</p><p>Stephen shook his head and a slight smile wove his lips. "Thank you, Zelma."</p><p>"Just add it to your tab!" And with that, Zelma left the Sorcerer to his self-imposed loneliness and he drifted, yet again, into deep thought.</p><p>The Sorcerer found himself near the Seal of Vishanti, which had become one of many favorite spots he has taken a liking to. As soon as he did so, the Cloak flew off downstairs somewhere. Stephen shook his head. He had no idea where she would go, but he hoped she'd be back sometime tomorrow. He knelt in the moonlight from the Seal's window and closed his eyes in meditation.</p><p>Stephen sat in the shadows for a long time, concentrating on the energies present inside the Sanctum. So far, he sensed nothing from the Dark Dimension, and the Obsidian Stone's energy inside the enchanted case remained silent. He reached out for Katherine's aura and found it in a state enriched with peaceful slumber and dreams.</p><p>Perfect.</p><p>He uncrossed his legs and drew to his feet. It was morning in Nepal, and Wong would almost certainly be in the Kamar-Taj's library.</p><p>Stephen thought about going downstairs and simply crossing over the gateway into the Kamar-Taj, but where was the fun in that? Wong would expect him to come through the gateway like all Sanctum caretakers. He grinned and created a portal that led inside the library and right behind Wong's desk.</p><p>Sure enough, Wong sat with his familiar earbuds on, listening to the latest pop tunes. Stephen walked right up to him and tapped his shoulder.</p><p>Wong yelped and jumped a mile. When he turned and saw Stephen standing there, he removed his earbuds with a sigh.</p><p>"I suppose asking you to stop doing that would be a waste of breath." Wong said.</p><p>"Pretty much."</p><p>Wong turned back to the book he was reading. "How are things in New York?"</p><p>"Oh, you know, the usual." Wong cocked an eyebrow. "Had the Cloak of Levitation fly off to a woman named Katherine—who's now possibly my first pupil in the mystic arts—Zelma, ironically just arrived...what else am I forgetting...?"</p><p>Stephen snapped his fingers. "The Obsidian Stone flared up tonight."</p><p>Wong's eyes widened, he placed his book down. "You've been busy."</p><p>"You could say that."</p><p>"Didn't have time to change your clothes?" Wong asked.</p><p>Stephen glanced down at his slightly damp outfit with a frown. "Slipped my mind."</p><p>"Where's the cloak now?"</p><p>"Somewhere inside the Sanctum." Stephen pondered his thoughts. "Possibly guarding Katherine. She seems to like Katherine."</p><p>Wong chuckled. "You're so certain the cloak is a 'she.""</p><p>"Gut feeling, I suppose."</p><p>Wong grew serious. "Is the cloak protecting her?"</p><p>"I think so, yes." Stephen replied.</p><p>"It has good instincts." Wong nodded. "Where is this Katherine woman now?"</p><p>"Sleeping in the Shangri La room."</p><p>"Nice room." Wong stepped away from his desk toward the section of books reserved for master sorcerers.</p><p>Stephen followed. Even after all this time, Stephen never grew weary of the Kamar-Taj library. The scent of the varnish on the wood floor and shelves, the fragrance of the dusty pages from the ancient manuscripts. In all his years, the largest medical collection or underground stacks from the biggest library couldn't rival the knowledge nestled here nor the nostalgia this place brought him.</p><p>"Describe what happened with the Obsidian Stone ," Wong said as the continued to walk.</p><p>Stephen spoke. "Katherine and I were on the third floor. I showed her around the Sanctum. We walked by the case and it flashed."</p><p>"Flashed?"</p><p>"Like a pulse," Wong glanced over his should. "More than giving off true illumination, but yes."</p><p>"Was it just one flash or a pattern?"</p><p>"Just one," Stephen replied. "But it happened twice. Once when we passed the case, and the second time when we stepped closer to it."</p><p>"Has it ever done that when you were in the Chamber of Relics alone?"</p><p>"No, not that I can recall."</p><p>Wong eyed him and Stephen rolled his in annoyance. He expected Wong to lead him to one of the dozens of chained books in the Ancient One's collection within the master section. He'd read almost all of them over the years, but instead of turning to the ancient texts, Wong walked right into a wall.</p><p>Stephen cleared his throat. "You know, I have Google Maps if you need it."</p><p>Wong shot him an annoyed look, and swung his arms in an arc to create a spell. Golden Eldritch light filtered over the wall to form a square that looked a lot like a door. Wong finished the spell by placing his hands inside the door he'd created and turning an invisible knob.</p><p>The wall sprang open.</p><p>"I thought you said no knowledge was forbidden here," Stephen said.</p><p>"It's not my fault you didn't sense the hidden gateway."</p><p>Stephen scowled but conceded the point. He trailed Wong inside the room, which turned out to be a tiny library. A single torch flickered against the wall where a shelf stood in front of them. But instead of books on the shelf, Stephen saw scrolls.</p><p>"First editions?" Stephen lifted the nearest scroll. "I thought someone would've transcribed this inside a book by now."</p><p>Wong smacked his hand.</p><p>"Ouch."</p><p>"You can peruse later. That's not the journal we want."</p><p>"Journal?"</p><p>Wong lifted a scroll from the top shelf and walked to a small desk that had been set up against the wall underneath the torch. On the desk lay a bone-dry inkwell and several fragile quills.</p><p>Stephen smirked. "Did you used to slave away inside this room before you got promoted?"</p><p>No sign of humor from Wong. "This was the Ancient One's private space for recording spells and her experiences in different dimensions, including the Dark Dimension." Wong tapped the scroll lightly.</p><p>"This is the scroll where she records being given the Obsidian Stone."</p><p>"Given?"</p><p>Wong nodded. "Just read."</p><p>Stephen did.<br/><br/></p><p>
  <b>
    <em>1976 A.D. </em>
  </b>
  <br/>
  <b>
    <em>October 21</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <em>'It has come to my attention that my dear friend has been keeping secrets from me, that much I know. However, her secrets are her own and I do not pursue or pressure her to reveal them to me. Since my first visits here in the Dark Dimension, I felt her lingering—watching from the shadows—and she revealed herself to be the twin sister to the Lord of Darkness, to Dormammu; she was Umar. She told me they birth their form from matter and consumed their father, Sinifer. It was this act and this act alone that exiled them unto the Dark Dimension and it's inhabitants. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The two Faltines soon came to power over the Mhuruuks in a path carved by betrayal and blood; this much I had witnessed. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I knew then that I should have not traveled here, but unlike her brother, she was welcoming. Umar served as his regent and behind that welcoming facade, hid an iniquitous and ungodly essence more overwhelming than Dormammu himself. Had she wanted, she could have taken my life and I would be no more; I doubt there would have been anything within my power that could have prevented her from doing so. To my surprise, she soothe my worries and informed me her strength was no more and she remained in her human guile as a convenience. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>We became allies over the course of my ventures there, but this particular visit fared different than the others.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I should have not traveled there alone to speak with Dormammu and I know that now. But it was of the utmost importance he understand that Earth was not his to touch. We reached an understanding today--he would continue his rule over this domain without interference from us, so long as our realm remained unmolested by his evil. It was a treaty I had to make as he was beginning to sense my use of magic from his dimension to remain Sorcerer Supreme. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I was going to leave, but alas, fate had something else in store. Umar presented me with an artifact of unruly power--this is what I have come to know as the Obsidian Stone. It was in that interaction that I faintly sensed another presence in the shadows that watched, but it vanished as quick as it had appeared. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I know not where she obtain it or if it was created by her hands and her hands alone, but she bestowed it upon me and told me to take it into my care. Had I require power from their dimension, she instructed me to draw it from the stone.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Whenever I tried drawing power from it, I was welcomed with visages of unthinkable futures and mirages that I knew were mere possibilities, but the sights were unbearable, even for me. I felt myself go insane and I realized that this item had not been meant for me to wield or control. No, it was for someone else and perhaps it had been that very presence I sensed before. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I wish to return to the Dark Dimension one day and question the motives of The Unrelenting One, but for now I find my hands tied and bound by the arrival of new students.  I am content in this. A new student arrived today by the name of Kaecilius, he shows great promise, but only time will tell.'</em>
</p><p>Stephen rolled the scroll back up. He had no idea what a Faltine or Mhuruuk were, but he gathered that Dormmamu and Umar were of this Faltine race and the Mhuruuk were the original inhabitants of the Dark Dimension. If this were the case, he wondered what it was like before the two arrived. Certainly not the endless darkness he saw on his faint visits there.</p><p>He didn't think anything, or anyone, good could live inside the Dark Dimension.</p><p>Apparently, he'd been mistaken.</p><p>So, the gem was locked inside the Sanctum for a reason, but what that reason was still remained unclear to himself and certainly the Ancient One. He wondered had she gone back to the Dark Dimension to find out this Umar's reasoning or had she simply forgotten. He stood up to go find Wong. If there was anymore information in regards to the Obsidian Stone, the Monk would point him in it's direction.</p><p>Wong stood right behind him.</p><p>Stephen jumped out of his skin. "Jesus! You scared me."</p><p>Wong <em>almost</em> smiled. "It's Wong. But I've heard Jesus was quite talented in sorcery as well."</p><p>Stephen gestured to the lines of scrolls. "Is there anything else about the gem? About Umar's reasoning for giving it to the Ancient One."</p><p>Wong shook his head.</p><p>The two stood facing one another, but not speaking, each in their own world of thoughts. Finally, Wong spoke. "Do you know anything about the woman you brought to the Sanctum?"</p><p>"Wait. You don't think she's—"</p><p>"I don't know anything about your apprentice"</p><p>"<em>Possible</em> apprentice." Stephen corrected</p><p>Wong slanted him a glance and placed the scroll back onto the shelf. "All I know is that the Obsidian Stone only reacts when anything from the Dark Dimension comes in contact with it. Any other information died with the Ancient One."</p><p>"I would like to meet this <em>Katherine</em>."</p><p>Stephen nodded.</p><p>Wong pulled out an iPhone and swiped his finger across it. He touched the screen once, twice. "I can squeeze you in between 9 and 10PM later tonight."</p><p>He met Stephen's eyes and smiled.</p><p>"You made a joke," Stephen said. "I'm impressed."</p><p>They left the tiny alcove, and Stephen memorized the spell Wong performed in order to seal its contents inside.</p><p>"I do know one thing," Wong said as he made his way back to his own desk inside the library.</p><p>"Oh? What's that?"</p><p>"If that woman you found has any relation to Umar or Dormammu, she doesn't need to be trained in the mystic arts. She needs to be kept under lock and key."</p>
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